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“There is one thing,” Cassiopeia said
He’d been waiting
“Hoe get there? We certainly can’t stop and ask directions”
“Not a problem”
He reached into his back pocket and produced a folded bundle “I kept the ht need it”
SEVENTY-ONE
BATANG
7:00 AM
TANG STOOD AT THE WINDOW AND SHADED HIS EYES FROM A bar of golden sun cresting over the eastern peaks He nursed a cup of sweet black tea, scented with cardamom He half expected to hear the rohorn, echoing off the cliffs A brother had once, each day at dawn, blown that siren from the monastery walls
He glanced down at the street
Batang was co a streaoith red waistbands and saffron caps, ankle-length with high collars, which offered protection fro and rattled the wooden walls He knew the weather here was fickle, particularly this ti air would be surprisingly warm, heated by UV rays that the thin atate
Viktor was downstairs eating Two hours ago he’d received word through his satellite phone that Ni and Sokolov had left Yecheng, in custody He’d ordered the chopper to deliver his prisoners then come for him at seven thirty He’d been pleased to hear that Malone and Vitt had been captured and, he assumed, were now dead
All of the ele into place
He breathed in the warm air, redolent with the smell of oily butter la of bells could be heard
The door opened
He turned and said to Viktor, “It’s time for me to leave The helicopter will return shortly”
On the bed lay equipht with hiht, knife, and fleece-lined jacket
“The walk up to the hall is a little over an hour,” Tang said “The trail starts west of town and winds upward The hall lies on the other side of the ridge, just past a suspension bridge Buddhas carved into the rock, beyond the bridge, mark the way It is not hard to find”
“What happened in Yecheng?”
“It’s not important”
Viktor Tomas was apparently still concerned about Cassiopeia Vitt Strange To hi but a distraction Men like Viktor should feel the same way Odd that he didn’t
Viktor gathered up his gear, slipping on a leather jacket
“Take that trail,” Tang said “Make sure no one from here follows Arrive at the hall unnoticed and enter with caution I’ain entrance easily The ates are left open”
“I’ll cover your back,” Viktor said “But, Minister, you have a
more immediate problem”
He didn’t like the words or the tone “Why do you say that?”
“Because Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt just drove into town”
CASSIOPEIA ADMIRED BATANG WHITEWASHED ADOBE WALLS, redbricks piled on the roofs—all typical for the area A ols, Chinese, Arabs, and Tibetans who, unlike the populations of their respective countries, had learned to live together They’d just driven nearly two hours through a skeletal landscape, stripped to its rocky bones, across a rough road
“My gut is still reeling from those rations,” Malone said as they stepped from the Rover
Along the way they’d found some food in the vehicle, rock-hard bars of cookie cruht was lard Tasted like sweet cardboard Her stoe she’d get motion sick—one of those weaknesses she did not like to display or discuss—but firood
“Ni said theto have to ask its location”
Guarded faces watched both her and Malone Glancing up, she spotted two ravens tu sky The air had definitely thinned and to co faster, but she told herself to stop, as that would solve nothing
“Asking doesn’t seeood idea,” Malone said as he stood near the hood
She agreed “I don’t think they get a lot of foreigners like us here”
TANG KEPT AWAY FROM THE GRIMY WINDOW, LOOSE IN ITS frame
“Seeht about Malone,” he said to Viktor “He is a man to be respected”
“So is she”
He faced Viktor “As you keep re me”